Forging of man, p.5
Forging of Man, page 5
part #2 of Thanos Series
“A yew ash? I guess you want to sell it,” she snapped and he could see the air around her turning red.
Forcing himself to keep calm, Ahnon cleared his throat. “Hardly, my lady. We are going to make the young ones bows worthy to use. Every piece of the tree will be put to use. We will find a yew tree close to the end of its life cycle and cut it down. From the branches, we will replant its seeds so it may live on,” he told her with a bead of sweat running down his forehead. Looking at the fairy that close to him, Ahnon’s eyes looked crossed.
The fairy flew back a foot in shock at the answer and the aura of red disappeared from around her. “Astonishing,” she said, looking at Ahnon. With her mouth hanging open, Kenna tried to reach out again to touch the fairy, only to have Ahnon push her hand back down.
“Use what nature provides, but replace it so nature can continue,” Ahnon recited the witchcraft lore.
The air around the fairy glowed a faint white, “Truly amazing,” she said, then noticed Ahnon push Kenna’s hand down yet again. “What does she want?” the fairy asked, looking at Kenna.
Not really wanting to answer, Ahnon sighed. “She wants to touch you, to see if you’re real,” Ahnon replied, hoping he didn’t make her mad.
“Really?” the fairy asked, hovering back in disbelief.
Praying a fight wasn’t coming, Ahnon nodded his head. “Yes, my lady,” he admitted, hoping for the best.
The fairy darted over to Kenna, “Hold out your hand, little one,” the fairy told her. Kenna shook her wrist out of Ahnon’s grasp, yanked off her glove and held up her palm. The fairy hovered over and landed on her palm. “See? I’m real,” the fairy told her.
Tears of joy slid out of Kenna’s eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” Kenna whispered as the fairy’s clear wings laid down on her back.
The fairy looked up at Ahnon, “I like her,” she told Ahnon, then looked back at Kenna. “Thank you,” the fairy paused not knowing her name. Kenna just smiled spellbound, staring at the fairy in her hand.
Ahnon smiled at the look on Kenna’s face. “My lady, her name is Kenna,” Ahnon said. “He is Jedek and I’m Ahnon,” he said, motioning to each of them. The fairy walked around on Kenna’s hand, looking up at Ahnon.
She curtsied to Kenna, then to Ahnon and Jedek, “I’m Rosea,” she said.
“I’m delighted,” Ahnon said, bowing back.
“This is so fairy hair,” Kenna said, looking at Rosea. Rosea reached up, touching her own hair and looked at Ahnon.
He shrugged his shoulders. “The kids say that meaning it’s the best thing ever,” Ahnon told her.
With a wide smile on her face, Rosea’s wings sprang up. “I can speak for us all, that we are honored,” she told Ahnon. Rosea flew off Kenna’s hand, up to her face, and kissed her cheek. “I have never met humans like you before,” Rosea said, coming to a hover in front of them again.
“You have met many humans?” Ahnon asked, starting to relax.
Shrugging her little shoulders, “A few and most are terrified or want to capture us,” Rosea told him.
Not able to help it, Ahnon chuckled at the thought of a human against a fairy. “Capture a fairy,” he said. “Not doubting you, but are you sure?” he asked.
“Quite sure,” Rosea said, crossing her arms over her chest.
That stunned Ahnon to the core and he dropped his hands off the kids’ shoulders. “I’m sorry for doubting you but let me assure you, that is not our goal and if we see any human or other creature of Thanos attempting it, we will bury them in this valley with or without your permission,” Ahnon told her and then bowed deeply to Rosea, sealing the vow.
Rosea jumped back in the air with the vow. “Rosea,” Jedek said. “We swear, if anything human or not, tries to hurt you or your tribe’s woods, they will not see the suns rise another day,” he promised and Kenna nodded in agreement. Jedek just wondered how humans could capture what they couldn’t see and why they would want to.
“My, such vows from such young ones,” Rosea said, looking at Jedek and Kenna. She looked up at Ahnon. “I know of such a yew ash that you seek, follow me,” she said and flew off at a slow pace. Ahnon grabbed Kenna as she was about to break into a run.
“Don’t run,” he told her, guiding her into a walk. “We are in their village and there are some on the ground,” he told her. With wide eyes, Kenna looked down at the ground gasping. “They don’t want you to see them, Kenna,” Ahnon told her, leading her by the shoulder to follow Rosea.
“I don’t want to step on one!” Kenna cried out in a screech.
“Then don’t run,” Ahnon told her. Kenna looked around and could see the grass moving like something was there.
“Are you sure? If I step on one I’m going to die of grief, right here and now!” Kenna moaned as she started to tip toe through the area, wishing she could levitate.
Seeing the worry, Rosea flew back to Kenna. “Don’t worry, they will move out of the way. But Ahnon is right, don’t run. There are children,” she told Kenna.
“Baby fairies!” Kenna screeched, looking down at the ground and stopping. “Please move so I don’t step on you, pretty please,” Kenna moaned and was about to ask Ahnon to make her hover.
Suddenly, Rosea flew over to Kenna’s face. “They are moving, don’t worry,” she assured Kenna, seeing that Kenna was very distraught.
“I’m staying right here till you tell me they’ve made me a path so I don’t accidentally hurt one. I’ve wanted to see fairies my whole life and if I hurt one I would die, especially a baby,” Kenna predicted with an anxious face. From the anxiety he felt from Kenna, Ahnon was starting to believe her.
Rosea turned around facing the area in front of Kenna and waved her hand across her body. “See? They made us a path,” she told Kenna. Kenna stood petrified, as did Ahnon and Jedek. The area was packed with fairies, way more than one could count in several days. They could see small infants being held, children fairies running on the ground and jumping into the air, flying a short distance, landing, and then doing it again.
In total bliss, Kenna saw a group fly up to her face and unlike Rosea, these fairies had butterfly wings and were half the size of Rosea. Looking over at Ahnon, Kenna saw him staring at a group of boy fairies holding spears off to the side. The one thing that stood out was they were all beautiful. Only a few of the adult fairies had clothes or leaves tied around them. Kenna noticed the rest weren’t wearing anything, making Jedek blush deep red.
Rosea waved her hand and the scene disappeared, but Kenna could still hear the buzzing and see the grass moving. “See, Kenna, you won’t hurt any as long as you move slowly,” Rosea told Kenna, hoping that Kenna would calm down.
Slowly, Kenna nodded then Rosea flew off, leading them away from the area. Jedek looked over at Ahnon, saying a silent prayer to all the gods that they didn’t step on one, “That’s a fairy village? More like a city,” he asked.
Ahnon shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve been close to one before and the only reason I knew it was there was that Esta, the witch who taught me, told me. One of the fairies did that for me so I could see it,” Ahnon admitted. “The one I saw was nowhere near this big,” he said, looking around. This fairy community covered many acres and that was only what they could see from the spot they were standing in.
Feeling enlightened, Kenna grabbed Ahnon’s hand. “The ones with butterfly wings, were they fairy kids?” she asked.
“You’ve studied fairies,” Ahnon said.
Wanting a straight answer for once, Kenna almost stomped her foot then thought better of it, since they were still in the village. “Ahnon, you have over thirty books on fairies and I’ve only read two,” she pouted.
Giving her a smile, Ahnon looked up to make sure they were still following Rosea. “The ones with butterfly wings were nixies. They help the fairies take care of the forest. I was told each group of nixies takes care of a specific plant and you could tell by the wings. Since I’ve seen fewer nixes than fairies, I can’t say for sure,” Ahnon told her.
Hearing the discussion, Rosea flew back closer to them and turned around, flying backward. “You know a lot of fairies,” she said, looking at Ahnon.
“I’ve only read what others have found out,” Ahnon told her.
Thinking for a second, Rosea smiled at him. “What is our mortal enemy?” she asked.
“Hobgoblin,” he answered.
“I hate hobgoblins,” Kenna snapped, then looked up at Ahnon. “What is that?” she asked in a whisper.
Putting a hand on Kenna’s shoulder Ahnon chuckled. “You remember the goblin with the humans who attacked us?” he asked. Kenna nodded her head as a shiver ran through her body, remembering the green goblin. “A hobgoblin looks a lot like him, but only a foot or two tall,” he told her.
“Why do they want to hurt the fairies?” Jedek asked.
Shrugging his shoulders with a blank face, “I don’t know,” Ahnon told him. “I’ve only spoken to one hobgoblin,” he admitted.
Flying in front of them at a slow pace, Rosea stopped and spun around, “You spoke to one of the evil spawn?” she demanded.
Letting out a sigh, Ahnon nodded his head. “Yes, the little demon tried to hurt Talon when he was still in his egg,” he told her.
Furrowing her little brow, “Talon?” Rosea asked.
“My ahus̆-roc,” he informed her.
“He’s yours,” Rosea asked with her face lighting up. “We’ve seen him flying around and were overjoyed to finally see one in this valley again,” she said, still flying backward and leading them through the tribe’s area.
“He’s my familiar,” Ahnon admitted smiling.
“A very noble one at that,” Rosea said turning back around. “I’m glad we didn’t hurt you then,” she said, leading them out of the area.
Ahnon sighed with relief as Jedek asked, “What did you do to the hobgoblin?”
“He was Talon’s first meal,” Ahnon answered with a grin.
Seeing the grass still moving, Kenna looked around. “There is a whole other world around us that we can’t even see,” she said.
“That’s right Kenna. We were honored today for a Fae to allow us to see their world, even if only for a few minutes,” Ahnon told her.
“Rosea, thank you so much, that was worth everything,” Kenna called out to her.
Rosea spun around and flew beside Kenna, “You are very welcome, Kenna. It was my pleasure,” she told her.
“I want to be as pretty as the fairies,” Kenna said looking down.
Rosea flew over and landed on her shoulder. Moving Kenna’s hair out of the way, she sat down on Kenna’s shoulder. “You are very beautiful, Kenna. We have been watching all of you since you came into the valley. Many in the tribe have said that,” Rosea told her.
Realizing fairies have been close, Kenna let out a gasp. “You’ve been watching?” she asked but didn’t turn her head, afraid Rosea would leave.
“Yes, but only in passing. We wanted to know what you were doing. Especially after you seemed to befriend some of the exiled ones,” Rosea told her.
“Rosea, believe me, Gwen and Shamus didn’t start out as friends. Ahnon convinced them we weren’t after their gold,” Kenna assured her.
“Well, after some of our scouts and nixies told the queen that the exiled ones kept visiting you and filling those bins with certain kinds of rocks, we started watching closer. None have ever heard of that happening before,” Rosea told her.
“It’s kind of like they are our friends now, but we won’t be if that makes you mad,” Kenna offered.
Patting Kenna’s cheek, Rosea let out a laugh and it was the prettiest sound they had ever heard. “No, Kenna. We would never want that, but leprechauns were banished for wanting to take from the land. We were worried they would show you how to get the gold and then take it from you,” Rosea told her.
“Gold is that important to them?” Jedek asked, eavesdropping on the conversation.
“Oh, yes! To them, it is everything. The queen told me she has never heard of any leprechaun befriending a human just for friendship,” Rosea said with a hint of suspicion.
“Well, I trapped them in their own etiquette,” Ahnon told her.
“Ew, that was smart,” Rosea replied impressed. “Then we started to see them running around the mountains dressed in green,” she said, clearly confused.
Kenna let out a laugh. “Well, they came over on Eve of Divine Tribute. Ahnon said they were trying to get out of debt, but he offered them clothes as gifts. They really liked them and have come back several times just to talk,” Kenna told her.
“Well, I can tell you that we haven’t seen a leprechaun that doesn’t have on an outfit like them since,” Rosea said with a small sigh. “It’s not much further,” she said, flying off Kenna’s shoulder making Kenna sad. Rosea stopped and pointed over a small rise, “There is an ancient yew tree over that rise,” she said, flying back to Kenna and sitting back on her shoulder.
Hardly feeling any weight, Kenna beamed with a smile as Rosea sat back on her shoulder. Ahnon looked down at Kenna’s hand holding his. ‘Yeah, I bet she can wrap a fairy around her pinkie’ he thought, following Rosea’s direction as Kenna and Rosea talked.
When they crested the hill, Ahnon spotted the yew tree sitting on top of a small rise in a glade. Its trunk was an easy twenty feet tall, “Wow,” was all Ahnon could say, freezing in his tracks.
Confused, Rosea flew off Kenna’s shoulder and over to Ahnon. “What? You said ancient, and we are having trouble getting him to revive each spring,” she told him, pointing at the massive yew tree.
Taking his eyes off the massive tree, Ahnon looked at the small fairy. “No, it’s just that I’ve never seen one that big,” he admitted. “The largest I’ve seen had a trunk nine feet tall. I’ve heard of ten, but,” he added, looking back at the tree.
“Well, there are bigger ones around, but they are still growing strong,” Rosea told him, narrowing her eyes with suspicion.
“Oh, this one is perfect, if it’s having trouble coming back each spring,” Ahnon told her, walking past her and heading to the tree.
Pleased with his response, Rosea smiled watching him as Jedek trotted to catch up to Ahnon. “You’re coming too, aren’t you?” Kenna asked with pleading eyes.
Clearly excited, Rosea flew over and landed back on her shoulder. “Yes, if you don’t mind, Kenna,” she told her. Kenna ran after the two, glancing out of the corner of her eye to make sure Rosea wasn’t going to fall off. To her shock, Rosea was barely moving on her shoulder as she ran seemingly stuck in place.
They all stopped at the tree and looked up. The straight trunk was only twenty feet tall, but the branches reached up another fifty and spread wide, shading the better part of an acre. Rosea flew off Kenna’s shoulder and put her tiny hand on the bark, “Your purpose is here, old friend,” she said.
Jedek could almost feel the tree sigh with relief. He shook the thought from his mind and looked over at Ahnon who was taking off his axe. Ahnon walked over, “You will live long,” he said, putting his hand on the trunk.
“Ahnon, how can it live long if we chop it down?” Jedek asked confused.
“Wood lives until decay,” he answered, looking at the massive diameter.
Jedek took a step back, “We burned some trees,” he whispered.
“Yes, and replanted, they served a purpose,” Ahnon said, taking off his surcoat, mask, and hat. Jedek copied him but Kenna stood still, not wanting to move, afraid Rosea would fly away. Slowly, Jedek walked around the trunk and confirmed it was massive. Not even Ahnon could reach a quarter of the way around it. Ahnon raised back the axe and started swinging, taking a deep bite out of the tree just a few inches above the ground. “Step back,” he told them.
Very relieved, Jedek grinned. He was scared they were going to use nothing but axes to chop down the tree. Kneeling down beside the tree, Ahnon pointed at the bite missing from the wood and slowly moved his hand. Along the trunk a thin cut appeared, following Ahnon’s hand. “Cutting hand,” Jedek mumbled the name of the spell.
When the cut reached the other side of the tree, it fell toward the cut Ahnon had made with the axe, crashing to the ground. “Grab your axe and make a cut at every branch at the base of the main trunk. Then, you can chop it off with magic,” Ahnon told them.
Taking her pack off, Kenna moved over with Jedek and started chopping. Not wanting Rosea to leave, Kenna kept talking to her, just making small talk. To Ahnon, Kenna was working on another wrap for her little finger. As they chopped off the branches, Jedek was surprised to see how most ran straight for yards. No sooner than they would chop a branch off, Ahnon would pull it out of the way. He would take his axe, knocking all the small branches off the main ones and even these were straight.
Not knowing what Ahnon was doing, Jedek went back to work, listening to Kenna and Rosea talk. It only took them a little more than an hour. Jedek knew just how long an hour was thanks to the hourglasses at home. He stood up stretching his back and saw Ahnon had two massive piles of straight branches stacked together and was tying ropes around each pile.
When he finished, Ahnon bent down to pick up several nuts from the tree. He held out his hand about chest high with his palm to the ground looking at the ground. Jedek and Kenna watched as Ahnon lowered his hand and a small circle of earth was pushed down. Dropping two of the nuts in the hole, Ahnon did it three more times, then walked to each hole and poured in some water from the water skin. Reaching in his pouch, he put a pinch of powder in each hole, then held out his hand with his fingers extended and then closed them in a fist.
Jedek grinned, watching the holes close up. Rosea flew off Kenna’s shoulder and hovered over one of the closed holes. Watching the grass under Rosea wave from her beating wings as she held out her hand, Jedek watched a small sprout ease out of the dirt. Then she moved to the others, making a sprout appear in the dirt. “Your offspring, great tree,” Rosea said smiling, then flew over to Ahnon.
“I have to say, I’m truly impressed by you and yours,” she told him.
